Edvard Munch: Psyche, Symbol and Expression will present 83 outstanding
examples of Munch's prints and paintings from private collections
and leading museums in the United States and Norway.This exhibition
takes
an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to the study of the style,
subject matter, and interpretations of the art of Edvard Munch in modern
European culture. Scholars from a variety of disciplines will explore
the meanings of Munch's imagery, his sources in Symbolist art and his
legacy for German Expressionism in the context of contemporaneous developments
in psychology, literature, and philosophy. Edvard Munch is a unique
figure
in the history of modern art: he was the first Scandinavian visual artist
to earn an international reputation in the explosion of creativity
in
the late 19th and early 20th century known as the "Scandinavian Renaissance."
His haunting painting The Scream (1893) has become an iconic image
of anxiety in the modern world and has made him one of the most recognized
artists in the world. Yet there is much more to Munch's art than
this single melodramatic note. He was a highly productive artist who
worked
for more than six decades, becoming a major portraitist and landscape
artist, as well as perhaps the most searching explorer of human passions,
including universal themes of love, death and spiritual seeking.

In the aftermath of Impressionism, Munch, along with the Dutch Vincent
Van Gogh and the French Paul Gauguin, was one of the most important artists
to make his personal emotions and spiritual longings the focus of his
art. A deeply ambitious artist, he sought no less than to express the
fundamental themes of life in the modern world as it was actually lived,
and to portray them in an authentic, powerful style which laid the groundwork
for modern Expressionism.

Previous treatments of Munch have not often recognized the religious
significance of Munch's works, but he himself insisted that "In all my
work people will see that I am a doubter, but I never deny or mock religion."
Far from mocking religious values, even controversial works such as his
Madonna of 1895 are sincere representations of his personal attempt
to understand the sacred quality of life and the fundamental mystery of
existence.

Edvard Munch: Psyche, Spirit and Expression is curated by Professor
Jeffery Howe (Fine Arts) with Professors Claude Cernuschi (Fine Arts),
Scott T. Cummings (Theater), Katherine Nahum (Fine Arts), Vanessa Rumble
(Philosophy) and Stephen Scloesser, SJ (History). The exhibition is organized
by the McMullen Museum of Art and underwritten by Boston College and the
Patrons of the McMullen Museum with an indemnity from the Federal Council
on the Arts and Humanities. Additional support has been provided by Per
Arneberg and the Andrew E. and G. Norman Wigeland Fund of the American-Scandinavian
Foundation. Scandinavian Airlines System provided assistance with transportation.